Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Jeremiah, chapters 32 and 33. Chapter 32. The
word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the
tenth year of Zedekiah, king of Judah, which
was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. For
then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem,
and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court
of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's
house. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him
up, saying, Why do you prophesy and say, Thus
says the Lord, Behold, I will give this city
into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he
shall take it. And Zedekiah king of Judah shall
not escape from the hand of the Chaldeans, but
shall surely be delivered into the hand of the
king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face
to face, and see him eye to eye. Then he shall
lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall
be until i visit him says the lord though you
fight with the chaldeans you shall not succeed
And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came
to me, saying, Behold, Hanamel, the son of Shalom,
your uncle, will come to you, saying, Buy my
field, which is in Anatoth, for the right of
redemption is yours to buy it. Then Hanamel,
my uncle's son, came to me in the court of the
prison, according to the word of the Lord, and
said to me, Please buy my field that is in Anatoth,
which is in the country of Benjamin, for the
right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption
yours. Buy it for yourself. Then I knew that
this was the word of the Lord. So I bought the
field from Hanumah, the son of my uncle, which
was in Anatoth, and weighed out to him the money,
seventeen shekels of silver. And I signed the
deed and sealed it, took witnesses and weighed
the money on the scales. So I took the purchased
deed, both that which was sealed according to
the law and custom, and that which was open.
And I gave the purchased deed to Baruch, the
son of Neriah, son of Maaseah. in the presence
of Hanamel, my uncle's son, and in the presence
of the witnesses who signed the purchase deed
before all the Jews who sat in the court of the
prison. Then I charged Baruch before them, saying,
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which
is sealed and this deed which is open, and put
them in an earthen vessel, that they may last
many days. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the
God of Israel, Houses and fields and vineyards
shall be possessed again in this land. Now when
I had delivered the purchased deed to Baruch,
the son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying,
Ah, Lord God, behold, you have made the heavens
and the earth by your great power an outstretched
arm. There is nothing too hard for you. You show
loving kindness to thousands and repay the iniquity
of the fathers into the bosom of their children
after them. The great, the mighty God, whose
name is the Lord of hosts. You are great in counsel
and mighty in work, for your eyes are open. to
all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone
according to his ways and according to the fruit
of his doings. You have set signs and wonders
in the land of Egypt to this day and in Israel
and among other men, and you have made yourself
a name, as it is this day. You have brought your
people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs
and wonders, with a strong hand and an outstretched
arm, and with great terror. You have given them
this land, of which you swore to their fathers
to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey.
And they came in and took possession of it, but
they have not obeyed your voice or walked in
your law. They have done nothing of all that
you commanded them to do. Therefore you have
caused all this calamity to come upon them. Look,
the siege mounds, they have come to the city
to take it. And the city has been given into
the hand of the Chaldeans, who fight against
it, because of the sword and famine and pestilence.
What you have spoken has happened, there you
see it. And you have said to me, O Lord God,
buy the field for money and take witnesses. Yet
the city has been given into the hand of the
Chaldeans. Then the word of the Lord came to
Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am the Lord, the
God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard
for me? Therefore thus says the Lord, Behold,
I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans,
into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,
and he shall take it. And the Chaldeans who fight
against this city shall come and set fire to
this city and burn it, with the houses on whose
roofs they have offered incense to Baal and poured
out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke
me to anger. Because the children of Israel and
the children of Judah have done only evil before
me from their youth. For the children of Israel
have provoked me only to anger with the work
of their hands, says the Lord. For this city
has been to me a provocation of my anger and
my fury from the day that they built it, even
to this day. So I will remove it from before
my face. Because of all the evil of the children
of Israel and the children of Judah, which they
have done to provoke me to anger. They, their
kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets,
the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And they have turned to me the back and not the
face. Though I taught them, rising up early and
teaching them, yet they have not listened to
receive instruction. But they set their abominations
in the house which is called by my name, to defile
it. And they built the high places of Baal, which
are in the valley of the son of Hinnom. to cause
their sons and their daughters to pass through
the fire to Molech, which I did not command them,
nor did it come into my mind that they should
do this abomination to cause Judah to sin. Now
therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,
concerning this city of which you say, it shall
be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon
by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
Behold, I will gather them out of all countries
where I have driven them, into my anger, in my
fury, and in great wrath. I will bring them back
to this place, and I will cause them to dwell
safely. They shall be my people, and I will be
their God. Then I will give them one heart and
one way, that they may fear me forever, for the
good of them and their children after them. And
I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
that i will not turn away from doing them good
but i will put my fear into their hearts so that
they will not depart from me yes i will rejoice
over them to do them good and i will assuredly
plant them in this land with all my heart and
with all my soul for thus says the lord just
as i have brought all this great calamity on
this people so i will bring on them all the good
that i have promised them And fields will be
bought in this land of which you say it is desolate,
without man or beast. It has been given into
the hand of the Chaldeans. Men will buy fields
for money, sign deeds, and seal them, and take
witnesses in the land of Benjamin, in the places
around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in
the cities of the mountains, in the cities of
the lowland, and in the cities of the south.
For I will cause their captives to return, says
the Lord. chapter thirty three moreover the word
of the lord came to jeremiah a second time while
he was still shut up in the court of the prison
saying thus says the lord who made it the lord
who formed it to establish it the lord is his
name call to me and i will answer you and show
you great and mighty things which you do not
know for thus says the lord the god of israel
concerning the houses of this city and the houses
of the kings of judah which have been pulled
down to fortify against the siege mounds and
the sword. They come to fight with the Chaldeans,
but only to fill their places with the dead bodies
of men, whom I will slay in my anger and my fury,
all for whose wickedness I have hidden my face
from this city. Behold, I will bring it health
and healing. I will heal them and reveal to them
the abundance of peace and truth, and I will
cause the captives of Judah and the captives
of Israel to return, as at the first. I will
cleanse them from all their iniquity by which
they have sinned against me, and I will pardon
all their iniquities by which they have sinned
and by which they have transgressed against me.
Then it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise,
and an honor before all nations of the earth,
who shall hear all the good that I do to them.
They shall fear and tremble for all the goodness
and all the prosperity that I provide for it.
Thus says the Lord, Again there shall be heard
in this place of which you say it is desolate,
without man and without beast, in the cities
of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem, that are
desolate without man and without inhabitant and
without beast, the voice of joy and the voice
of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and
the voice of the bride, the voice of those who
will say, Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord
is good, for his mercy endures forever. And of
those who will bring the sacrifice of praise
into the house of the Lord. For I will cause
the captives of the land to return as at the
first, says the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts,
In this place, which is desolate without man
and without beast, and in all its cities, there
shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds,
causing their flocks to lie down. In the cities
of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland,
in the cities of the south, in the land of Benjamin,
in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities
of Judah. The flocks shall again pass under the
hands of him who counts them, says the Lord.
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that
I will perform that good thing which I have promised
to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.
In those days and at that time I will cause to
grow up to David a branch of righteousness. He
shall execute judgment and righteousness in the
earth. In those days Judah will be saved and
Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the
name by which she will be called, the Lord our
righteousness. For thus says the Lord, David
shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of
the house of Israel, nor shall the priests, the
Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings
before me, to kindle green offerings, and to
sacrifice continually. And the word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah, saying, Thus says the Lord,
If you can break my covenant with the day and
my covenant with the night, so that there will
not be day and night in their season, that my
covenant may also be broken with David my servant,
so that he shall not have a son to reign on his
throne and with the Levites, the priests, my
ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered,
nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply
the descendants of David my servant and the Levites
who minister to me. Moreover the word of the
Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, Have you not considered
what these people have spoken, saying, The two
families which the Lord has chosen, he has also
cast them off. Thus they have despised my people,
as if they should no more be a nation before
them. Thus says the Lord, If my covenant is not
with day and night, and if I have not appointed
the ordinances of heaven and earth, then I will
cast away the descendants of Jacob and David
my servant. so that I will not take any of his
descendants to be rulers over the descendants
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for I will cause
their captives to return and will have mercy
on them. I hope you enjoyed today's reading as
much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you
again tomorrow to continue on our journey. God
bless you and have a great day.